SAMUEL GOFF & MARIAM REZAEI “The End of the World … Finally” C35 (Cacophonous Revival)

 

I think it’s appropriate that I sit here on New Year’s Eve 2020 (yeah, you’re reading this later) and listen to a tape called The End of the World … Finally, a blast of a new tape from Richmond-based percussionist Samuel Goff and London based turntablist Mariam Rezaei. Maybe it’s a little ironic – I’m sitting here, perched on the promise of hope at the tail end of possibly the worst year I’ve ever encountered, and I’m thinking to myself, “It’s the end of the end of the world … finally!” So my “double negative” negates the crushing doom of plague and conspiracy with a sigh of relief, a breath of fresh air after being choked by the stinking smog of 2020 for what seems like forever.
 
But don’t get me wrong – The End of the World … Finally is also a breath of fresh air, a sigh of relief, in that it also depicts the release from repression, not ending in hope, however, but in oblivion. But still, there’s gotta be hope, right? Think: Goff and Rezaei have put together this utterly hyperkinetic workout of percussion and signal, so the only way to emerge from it is with your heart racing, like you’ve just been incredibly active or the last 35 minutes while you’ve listened to it. And take it from me, exercising after a long break (I’m a terrible holiday exerciser) pumps your body full of long-required chemicals, allowing you to feel revived and revitalized, even if it’s a fairly painful process. Don’t worry – also take it from me, it’ll get better.
 
So The End of the World … Finally is a celebration then, a quick-paced and highly active wing-ding that’ll either end in nothingness or something better – but there’s no in between! That’s good news, I think, and it’s news made better with the prospect wicked drumming and wickeder experimental turntable slashing, or whatever the heck Rezaei is doing. Doesn’t matter, it sounds awesome.
 
https://cacophonousrevivalrecordings.bandcamp.com/
 
--Ryan

SAMUEL GOFF “Transmissions” (Orb Tapes)

Among the Rocks and Roots released one of my favorite 2019 surprises, Raga, which I wrote about immediately after hearing it (it came in the mail; I popped it in within five minutes, not knowing what to expect; I was blown away). It remains a go-to tape when I want a faceful of blistering weirdness – on that front it fully delivers. Samuel Goff comprises half of Among the Rocks and Roots (he’s also a founding member of RAIC), and here he steps out on his own with Transmissions, his first-ever solo release. How does it stack up against the utter onslaught of Raga? Well, it’s still an unmistakable assault on the senses; and while it may not be as traditionally “heavy,” with pummeled instruments and breakneck pacing, it absolutely delivers on the madness and intensity of Goff’s other project.

What’s most noticeable about Transmissions is the variety it displays from track to track, and this makes sense given the fact that it contains field recordings collected over the course of a year; these are sourced from Goff’s travels to Santa Cruz and Cochabamba, Bolivia, while the rest was recorded at the University of Richmond in Virginia. While “Pikeville” mixes free jazz and backporch Kentucky folk, “Transmissions, Part One” blends together scrambled, er, transmissions until they resolve into a cauldron of boiling static. These things juxtaposed against each other serve to heighten their individual characteristics – and this is even before we get to the rhythmic stuff! That’s right, both “Snakebite” and “Cochabamba” hit you with more traditional rhythms, with the field recordings of “Cochabamba” doing some incredible heavy lifting as they inject the thirteen-minute track with surprise movement. (Not to mention the choir – really nice touch.)

At this point you’re only halfway through, and the second side of Transmissions bears out the contrast between noise and rhythm and local sounds/music as sound art in infinitely intriguing ways. Goff transcends genre with ease, swirling everything together until each element fits perfectly in its own place, no matter how much it contrasts with something else. This is the logical next step following Raga, a half-turn to the interior workings of how one participant processes the world around him.

https://orbtapes.bandcamp.com/

https://amongtherocksandroots.bandcamp.com/

--Ryan